(Eagle Rock)This 2-disc DVD opens with a set from
Jazz Fest in 2004 where Collins enters the stage pretty much wordlessly and
just starts playing a wild drum solo. Then another dude joins in and there’s a
thundering drum duo. Then a third cat comes out playing congas and percussion
and we get a drum trio. This is THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW! And it goes on for
like ten minutes, no music except apeshit percussion, and they are not doing
some mellow drum circle unity thing, this is like a jazz war where cats are
showing off their best stuff, trying to cut the other dude. Maybe Collins
always opens like this, maybe he just wanted to show that he knows he’s a
drummer and not a pop star so he prefaces an hour of schmaltzy vocals with a
muscular set of mayhem, or maybe he just felt like jazzing it up jazz fest, I
don’t know, but it was awesome. The rest of the set is genuinely godawful,
nearly two dozen cornball Collins’ songs and covers (“Groovy Kind of Love,”
Cyndi Lauper’s “True Clors”) accompanied by a smooth jazz/new age-ish band. Yecch. But disc two, a Jazz Fest set
from 1996 is much more interesting. Collins decided to do a full on Benny
Goodman Big Band deal, with no vocals, just big band arrangements of Genesis
and Collins’ solo songs, with him playing drums. Quincy Jones conducts, and
this is fun, if not super good.The problem is that despite Phil swinging pretty
hard on the drums, using brishes when appropriate, and trying to jazz it up, it
never sounds swingin’, it sounds more like a slick orchestra recording a movie score.
The songs themselves ay be hard to jazz up, but also the very talented band is
just not made up of guys who can get into big band mode. David Sanborn and
Gerald Albright soloing is going to sound like a smooth jazz Christmas no
matter what they try to play. At one point Tony Bennett comes out and sings a
Tony Bennett song with his own pianist and bassist (and Collins and Co.) and
he’s remarkable. Obviously Bennett can sing, but how muscular his voice was in
’96 is astonishing. According to Collins’ liner notes Bennett did a full 30
mionutes, but we only get one song. I feel good for Phil getting to do this, it
looks fun, but other than backing Bennett it’s more a curiosity than essential.
Still, between this and the drum collision I think this is a worthwhile release.

(raybroony@gmail.com) Negative integer-Fi noise punk that made my nails
ingrow! I thought "Mid-Life Crisis" was the brooniest record of all time but the ridiculously scramble, screechy, muffly "How I Feel" is so much broonier that I feel...broonied to the max!!

(gripweeds.com) The Grip Weeds
were formed off of the Jersey Turnpike exit 9 and quickly arrived at the Psyche
pop HIGHway Cloud 9. But rather than
visit the 60s on their DVD they have hit the 90s, when bands had “EPKs” which oddly
stood for Electronic Press Kits, which were barely electronic, Vas they were VHS
tapes with relatively low budget video content hyping the band. This DVD
features the group jamming their awesome hits in their home studio, augmented
by cheap but cheerful in-camera psyche effects. Then there is the band in
talking head mode (as in Ken Burns documentary blather, not David Byrne giant
suit) explaining the band history and songs and personel. And you know what –--
I love it! They are so sincere and
unpretenscious and hardworking that I’m happy to watch their home movies!
Better yet, the bonus videos (cheapo actual music vids) are KILLER! Better than the DVD is their latest CD, which features a lot of the same songs (their greatest "hits") but rather than the DVD's "live" in the studio (which sort of means they are not dead when playing it, but by all other definitions, it's a studio recording) this has the energy of the audience and feels exciting and fun, and shows what their great psyche pop can do to people. It can grip them. And weed out the poseurs.

(HLR) I was trolling the
Internet for something I won’t tell you about when Youtube TOLD ME to watch a
video where Grass Widow upset Shannon & the Clams in a cover band contest
judged by Nobunny and a surly dominatrix. I will put aside how creepy it is
that my computer tells the Internet who I am and that I would love that weird
assed video because, basically, I really did love that weird assed video! Thank you Homeland Security, Google,
and Big Brother for monitoring me! And thank you Grass Widow for making
beautiful, bouncy, hypnotic indie surf retro/future music. Grass, grass or
grass…no one rides for free! Except on Youtube.

(theblackwidows.net)
If you expect me to say anything other than “I WORSHIP THEM!!!” about a motorcycle
gang surf rock masked trash instro band then you never met me. Hi, I’m Waymon, nice to meet ya! Spoiler
alert: the press kit quoted someone comparing them to Blue Oyster Cult, and
once you’re told that you can’t not hear it! So you have a motorcycle gang surf
rock masked trash instro band that sounds exactly like Blue Oyster Cult. Go
figure?

(finrecords.com) Sounds like a Cheap Trick
cover band decided to write originals and a magic alien helped them by
enchanting their instruments and they hired a good producer and workshopped
some killer lyrics. And they chose a name with dangerous rhyming possibilities (see The Stags review).

(Snortin Horse) Bless Bobby
Bare! Well, always bless him, but this time specifically bless him for
inspiring this fun, well-crafted, countrified outsider Opry music album. And
while you’re at it, blame and bless David Allan Coe, Vince Gill, SHel Silverstein,
Kinky Friedman, and even Jimmy Buffett. I love you Mahan!

(Eagle Vision) I can’t believe how long I had this sitting
on my desk without playing it. I figured, ‘why would I want to see an Ozzy
concert from just after Randy Rhoads died?’ Which completely ignores Rhoads’
legacy. While I’m sure Rhoads would have been a bit more exciting to watch
shred than the totally acceptable Brad Gillis, the reason Randy was a metal
miracle was his influence on the songwriting – the Rhoads-assisted Ozzy solo
records made hard rock poppy and hooky without losing the manliness and
metallic edge in ways that Def Leppard and Billy Squier only hinted at. The
reason to watch Ozzy live post “Blizzard” and “Diary” is because thanks to
Randy (and a few Sabbath cuts) this is a show that probably features the
strongest material in the history of the genre. And the fact that Ozzy is
playing on a stage that looks like a Satatnic temple with flying laser demons,
full-on pyro, and a keyboardist in a-hooded druid robe don’t hurt either. And let’s
not fail to celebrate that Ozzy, his voice a marvel of metal, is meandering
around the stage looking like Benn Hill in a fright wig, wearing a spandex
workout outfit that looks like he should be in a Jane Fonda exercize video…and
he still comes off as the greatest frontman in hard rock history! There are a
million great details…the druid pianoman screwing up his costume by wearing his
wedding ring…Ozzy;s tattooist being identified in the end credits…Ozzy drinking
water from a chalice…every note of “Flying High Again,” “Paranid,” “Suiciede
Solution,” “Mr. Corwley,” “Over the Mountain,” and ever other song. But it’s
the big picture that matters…and it’s a big picture of Ozzy maniacally smiling.
Watch this and you will be too.

(thesecuriousthoughts.com) Strangely pleasant alternate dimension pop compositions that are getting curiouser
and curiouser, if you ask Alice (though this does not sound like Jefferson
Airplane, that was an unintententional quote/reference).

(researchturtles.com) Whatever turtle research was involved, it was not by the
same firm doing market research for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
computer animation cartoon. This appealing, slightly askew alt-rock power pop,
witha soft side, EP would not
play well on Cartoon Network. But there’s a lotta other channels in the turtle
swamp!

(Alive) This inexplicably unreleased first album by RM is postmodern
60s trash garage blues that sounds like every 90s Goner Records release but with
better leads and groovier basslines. In other words…Garage Grammy material!

(Lightyear) Damn,
I wish Sophie B. Hawkins made more records. Not every track on this
diverse collection appeals to me, but a spooky, bluesy opening track, a ghostly
prayer song built around a river = life metaphor, and a chilling version of
“Sinnerman” make it easy to forgive the easy listening stuff. There’s even an
acoustic version of that one song by her you know which sounds awesome.

(http://darkfog.bandcamp.com) Chicago psyche superstars go to
Detroit (for some actual MC5 drive), to outer space (for some mandatory psyche
anti-gravity pills), and to the mysterious house of Dr. Quimby, who I guarantee
provides completely different drugs than Sgt. Pepper (though he may be the
neighbor to Dr. S. F. Sorrow and Obstetrician Nik Hawkwind).

(He Who Corrupts) This pummeling, hooky, anglular, hardcoresque music is the shit. And
the fast. And the lasers. Sittign at an airport is boring by the way, which is
the best them for an angry protest song I ever heard. “Get a slice of Wolfgang Puck’s!”

(Summersteps) Battlestar Galactica-evocative
psychedelia (old show, not new one) that is somehow about cowboys. Which I
guess makes sense, as space heroes are cowboys with laser six shooters, right?
And Tonto must have slipped the Lone Ranger peyote sometimes.

(todayshits.tumblr.com) James writes, sings, and records a new song every day. While this would be a fine digital project, he makes it "real" by recording some of the songs on cassette, then courteously leaving enough tape blank for you to record some of your own as well! The best song on the tape he handed me was about eating pizza every day. I would have made that a driving hardcore song, but that's why I'm not a musical genius...he made it totally pleasant, perfectly attuned to one who had the dream life of daily pizza consumption.

(roostercow.com)
Considering they have a mascot named Cassettey (one of the least beloved
recurring Roctober comics) I’m surprised this band waited til they broke up to
start releasing tapes. Despite the “Soft” in their name, as their song “Tromboner”
impies, these very poppy sorta punks are synonymous with virility. Audio Viagra
is what I call this cassette.

(Exotic Aquatic)
Heck yeah! Two bands getting weird enough that the entire thing is a lo-fo
audio haze. I suppose NP is weirder, but Hecks jump around from sounding like
such different bands from song to song that I’m gonna hang a weird hat on them
too.